Gymnastic toy



P. EssER GYMNASTIC TOY Sept. 6 1927.

Original Filed March so, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Peter Esser ,4TTORN S r P. ESSER GYMNASTIG TOY Se t. 6, 1927;

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed March 30, 1923 INVENTOR Pe fer Ess e r ATTORN S Patented Sept. 6, 1927.

UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER ESSER, 6F CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIQNOB TO-LOUIS MARK 8c COMPANY,INC., OF NEW YORK, N; Y'., A CORPORATION 0}? NEW YORK.

GYMNASTIO TOY.

Application filed March 30, 1923, Serial No. 628,779. Renewed February18, 1927.

ihis invention relates to a gymnastic or acrobatic toy, and moreparticularly to a gymnastic figure toy constructed and adapted forpropulsion alonga rope or cord with a hand over hand motion.

A principal object of the present invention comprehends the provision ofa gyminastic figure toy having movable arms and provided with mechanismoperable when the toy is suspended on a rope or cord, for imparting anoverhead hand over hand movement to the arms combined with a to and froswinging or rocking movement of the body of the figure for propellingthe toy over the rope or cord in a highly realistic and life-likefashion.

Other and ancillary objects of the present invention include theprovision of a rope walking toy in which the arms are mounted foroscillatable movement on the body in a mannerto permit successive handoverhand movements in an efiicient manner; and the provision of a toy ofthis character having few parts capable of simple manufacture forproviding an inexpensive and attractive toy.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as mayhereinafter appear,'my invention consists in the elements and theirrelation one to the other, as hereinafter particularly described andsought to be defined in the claims, reference being had to theaccompanyingdrawings which show a preferred embodiment of the invention,and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my rope walking toy, with partsbroken away, showing the same suspended for propulsion on a rope orcord,

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the same with parts shown insection, and

Figs. 8 to 6 are diagrammatic views depicting the manner in which themechanism provided functions to impart a hand over hand propulsioncombined with an oscillati-n or rocking movement of the toy.

Referring now more in detail to the drawings and more particularly toFigs. 1 and 2 thereof, the toy gymnast of my present invention comprisesgenerically a figure which may be made to represent or simulate anacrobat attired as a clown, the said figure including a .body 10provided with the arms 11 and 12 movable relatively theree to, andmechanism generally designated as 13 suitably housed or en ased by he bdy 10 and operative for imparting motion to the toy when the same issuspended on a horizontal cord or rope 14 to produce a handover handmotion o he a ms 1 n 12 and an oscil ating o ocking mot on. of the body10,

The body 10 may be conveniently made out of sheet material stamped intothe configuration Shown, and the arms 11 and 12 are desirably providedwith the integral hand portions 15 and 1.6 respectively, formed bysuitably curving the upper ends of the arms in hooked fashion so. thatthe hands may successively engage the rope 14 when propelled therealong.The body 10 may also be provided with the lower limbs 16 and 17 freelymovable thereon, and to this end the lower limbs may be convenientlycarried by the hook-shaped elements 18 and 19 fixed to an open frame 20provided for supporting the mechanism 13, the said frame being fixedlycarried interiorly by the body The arms 11 and 12 are preferablyoscillatably mounted on the body 10, and so that the hands 15 and 16 ofthe figure may be moved successively in hand over hand motion, the armsare mounted on the body on offset axes, the arms 11 and 12 being to thisend fixed to the non-coaxial shafts 21 and 22 spacedly journalled in thebody 10 and the framework 20. By the provision of this arrangement, thehands may be made to clear each other and the arms oscillated in apredetermined manner as will be detailed hereinafter, to produce thedesired propulsion of the toy along the rope.

The mechanism 13 for imparting the oscillating motion to the arms 11 and12 comprises in the preferredconstruction the rock arms 23 and 24:attached respectively to the shafts 21 and 22, rocking motion beingimparted to the said arms by means of the spaced crank arms 25 and 26respectively, fixed to :a drive shaft 27 j ournalled in the framework20, the crank arms being connected to the rock arms by means of the linkmembers 28 and 29 respectively. For driving the shaft 27 there ispreferably provided the spring motor 30 also journalled in the framework20 and adapted to be energized by means of the winding key 31, motionbeing transmitted from the spring motor to the drive shaft by means ofthe i Lil) gear and pinion 32 and 33 fixed respectively to the motorshaft and to the shaft 27. For the purpose of retarding the movement ofthe operated parts to the desired degree, I may provide a retardingelement in the form of a winged member 34 fixed to a shaft 35 journalledin the framework 20, which is set into rotation by the gear and pinion36 and 37 fixed respectively to the shafts 27 and 35, the said retardingmeans operating to produce sufficient air resistance to prevent anover-running of the mechanism and to stabilize the propulsion of thefigure.

As hereinbefore stated, a desideratum of the invention relates to theprovision of a rope walking toy in which a hand over hand movement ofthe arms is combined-with a to and fro swinging or rocking motion of thebody so as to effect a realistic and life-like simulation of a ropewalking acrobat. To this end the arms 11 and 12 are moved relatively tothe body and relatively to each other in such a manner, and the parts ofthe mechanism 13 are so constructed and designed, that when the figureis opcratively suspended on a horizontal cord, the relative motions willproduce a forward propulsion of the figure and will effectuate a to andfro movement of the body to positions on opposite sides of the verticalline. More specifi cally, to accomplish these results the arms 11 and 12of the figure are so arranged and operated as to be movable relativelyto the body 10 in cycles, and movable relatively to each other with arelative displacement of less than onehalf of a cycle; and in theembodiment shown in the drawings, the arm 12, which because of its frontmounting may be conveniently designated as the front arm, is arranged tofollow the arm 11, which may be correspondingly termed the rear arm,with a displacement of less than one-half a cycle of oscillation andpreferably about one-quarter of. a cycle. To produce this relativedisplacement, the crank arms and 26 of the mechanism 13 are arranged onthe drive shaft 27 with a relative displacement of less than 180, and inthe exemplified construction these crank arms have a relativedisplacement of about as will clearly appear from a consideration of thedrawings.

The character of motion imparted to the toy by the provision of thisconstruction will be evident from a consideration of Figs. 3 to 6 of thedrawings, in which are diagran'imatically depicted four successivepositions in a complete cycle of operation assumed by the figure, themovement from one position to the next corresponding to one-quarter ofthe complete cycle.

Referring first to Fig. 3. it will be seen that in the position thereshown, the body 10 assumes an erect or vertical position indicated bythe longitudinal central line 12, and

in this position the body is suspended on the cord 14 symmetricallybetween the arms 11 and 12. The crank arms 25 and 26 are shown movingcounter-clockwise as indicated by the arrow, and due to the relativedisplacement between the crank arms, the arms 11 and 12 of the figureare being moved in the same direction, forwardly relatively to the body10, as indicated by the arrows in said Fig. 3. As the drive shaft 27 andthe crank arms 25 and 26 rotate one-quarter of a cycle from the positionshown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4, the forward motion of the arms11 and 12 relatively to the body 10 and the frictional engagement ofthese arms with the cord 14 causes the body to move or rock rearwardlyinto the inclined position.

indicated by theline 79 shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. Besidesproviding a rearward rocking motion, this inclination of the body hasthe effect of moving the rock shafts 21 and 22 relative to each other ina vertical direction, the weight of the body shifting from the front arm12 to the rear arm 11; and of causing the front arm 12 to rise from thecord 14 for hand over hand movement relatively to the arm 11. In theposition shown in Fig. 4 the front arm 12 is moving forward and the reararm 11 is already moving rearward relatively to the body 10 to initiatethe relative forward movement of the body to a vertical position.

In the further rotation of the crank arms 25 and 26, the figure movesfrom the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 5, the front arm12 first moving into engagement with the cord or rope 14, the arms thenmoving in the same direction, and rearwardly relatively to the body 10,as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5, the said body moving to the erector vertical position 19 as shown in said Fig. 5. -Due to the engagementof the arms 11 and 12 with the cord 14 and because of the motion of thearms 11 and 12 in the same direction relatively to the body 10, the body10 is then caused to move forwardly, the effect of this movementbeing torelative ly displace the rock shafts or pivots 21 and 22 in a verticaldirection opposite to that shown in Fig. 4, this causing the rear arm 11to rise from the cord 14 for movement relatively to the arm 12 with ahand over hand motion. In the position shown in Fig. 6 the suspension ofthe body on the frontarm 12 and the continued rearward movement of thisarm relatively to the body causes a further forward inclination of thebody, producing therein a pronounced forward tilt or a rocking motion.As the crank arms 25 and 26 then move from the posit-ion shown in Fig. 6to that shown in Fig. 3,

assuming first the intermediate position shown in Fig. 1, the rear arm11 meets and engages the rope 14, and the front arm moves forwardly onthe body 10, causing Fit) the'body again to assume the vertical posi'tion suspended symmetrically between the arms 11 and 12.

vVith this mechanical movement provided, it will therefore be seen thatthe figure moves in recurring cycles, the body swinging forwardly andrearwardly so as to lend realism to the movement of the automaton, theright hand moving over the left hand and the left hand moving over theright hand without interference and in an efficient manner, the partsbeing so co-ordinatcd as to cause the body to move in unison with thearms and to assume symmetrical positions with respect thereto.

lVhile I have shown my device in the preferred form, it will be obviousthat many changes and modifications may be made in the structuredisclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined inthe following claims.

I claim:

1. A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body, armsoscillatably mounted on the body for movement overhead with a hand overhand motion and for imparting a to and fro swinging movement to the bodywhen 'thefigure is suspended for propulsion on a cord or rope, mechanismcarried by the body and connected to said arms for imparting the saidhand over hand movement to the same, the said mechanism embodying meanscoordinated with said oscillatably mounted arms for imparting the to andfro movement to the body.

2. A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body, armsoscillatably mounted on the body for movement overhead with a hand overhand motion and for imparting a to and fro swinging movement to inclinedpositions on opposite sides of a vertical line when the figure issuspended for propulsion on a horizontal cord or rope, mechanism carriedby the body and connected to said arms for imparting the said hand overhand movement to the same, the said mechanism embodying meanscoordinated with said oscillatably mounted arms for imparting the to andfro movement to the body.

A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body and armsmounted thereon and oseillatable about non-coaxial axes for movementoverhead, and mecha nism for oscillating the arms to propel the figureover a cord or rope.

4. A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body and armsmovably mounted thereon on fixed non-coaxial shafts for movementoverhead to produce a hand over hand propulsion of the figure over acord or rope, and mechanism for moving the said arms.

A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body and armsmovably mounted thereon on fixed non-coaxial shafts for movementoverhead to produce a hand overhand propulsion of the figure over a cordor rope, and mechanism encased by the figure for moving the said arms(3. toy'gynmast comprising a toy "figure having abody and armsosciilatable overhead relatively to the body, and mechanism foroscillatin the-arms with a relative dis-- placement of less than halfofa cycle of oscillation.

7. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure having a body and armsoscillatable overhead relatively to the body, and mechanism foroscillating the arms with a relative displacement of about a quarter ofa cycle of oscillation. 8. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure havinga body and arms movable overhead relatively to the body in recurringcycles, and mechanism for moving the arms with a relative displacementof, less than half of a cycle.

9. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and armsmounted thereon on non coaxial pivots, the said arms being movablerelatively to the body in recurring cycles, and means for moving thearms with a relative displacement of less than half of the cycle.

10. A toy gyini'iast comprising a toy figure including a body and armsmounted thereon on front and rear axes, the said arms being oscillatableoverhead relatively to the body, and means for oscillating the arms sothat the front arm follows the rear arm with a relative displacementbetween the arms of less than half of a cycle of oscillation.

11, A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and armsthereon oscillatably movable overhead relatively thereto for effecting ahand over hand move ment when the figure is suspended on a cord or rope,and mechanism for oscillating the arms including rock arms one connectedto each arm of the figure, and a crank arm and connecting link for eachrock arm.

12. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and armsthereon oscillatably movable overhead relatively thereto for effecting ahand over hand move ment when the figure is suspended on a cord or rope,and mechanism for oscillating the arms including rock arms one connectedto each arm of the figure, and a crank arm and connecting link for eachrock arm, said crank arms having a relative displacement of less than180.

13. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and armsmounted thereon on relatively offset shafts, said arms beingoscillatably movable overhead rela tively to the body for effecting ahand over hand movement when the figure is suspended on a cord or rope,and mechanism for oscillating the arms including rock arms one connectedto each shaft, and a crank arm and connecting link for each rock arm.

14. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and armsmounted. thereon on relatively ofi'set shafts, said arms beingoscillatably movable overhead relatively to the body for effecting a,hand over hand movement when the figure is suspended on a cord or rope,and mechanism for oscillating the arms including rock arms one connectedto each shaft, a11d a crank arm and connecting link for each rock arm,said crank arms having a relative displacement of less than 180.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, this 27th day of March, A. D. 1923.

PETER ESSER.

